Handle-container for different size hexagonal wrenches



April 22, 1952 2,593,828

R. G. AREY HANDLE-CONTAINER FOR DIFFERENT SIZE HEXAGONAL WRENCHES Filed Feb. lO, 1950 Patented Apr. 22, 1952 HANDLE-CONTAINER FOR DIFFERENT SIZE yHEXAGONAL WRENCHES Ralph G. Arcy, Brockton, Mas-s., assignor to Ward Machine Company, Inc., Brockton, Mass., a corl poration 'of Massachusetts Application February 10, 1950, Serial No. 143,430

My present invention is a novel and .improved hex Wrench with capacity for holding amultiplicity of sizes of hexagonal wrench elements in a quickly adjustable locking chuck, together with means to contain a seriesjor set of varying sizes of such wrench elements. -I

vIt is customary at presentto employ various bolts, screws; set screws; plugs, and the like devices formed with hexagonal sockets, and heretofore it has been usual to provide socket wrenches in the form of a right-angled handle and depending hexagonal portion to lit into the socket to rotate same for fastening or unfasten- As these ordinary socket wrenches were capable only of registering or fitting with a corresponding size in the article to be turned, it has been necessary .to keep on hand an entire set of such socket wrenches of varying sizes so that the operator could select an appropriate socket wrench to nt the article to be tightened or loosened.

' My present invention provides a singlehandle member with means adjacent oneend to receive, t, hold, and lock a large variety of different sized hexagonal wrench elements; and thus I eliminate the prior necessity of having available an entire set of socket wrenches, usually ten or twelve in number, and ranging from the smallest to the largest wrench generally available for an operators use.

While my invention is primarily directed to the hex wrench and socket construction, it is equally applicable for use with triangular, fivesided, seven-sided, or other angular socket constructions.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a conveniently sized handle member having a hollow barrel of suiicient length to receive a considerable quantity of different sized socket elements, which are inserted in and removed from one end, which end is covered by a threaded cap.

On the other end of the barrel, I provide a chuck with a threaded clamping portion to engage, hold, and lock any selective one of the wrench elementsy desired to be used.

I have discovered that by making a triangular recess in the chuck-holding end of the handle with the faces of each side of the recess ad- `ioining the adjacent face at a sixty-degree angle. I am enabled to firmly hold and clamp any sized hexagonal socket element by means of a tubular member threaded on the handle adjacent the chuck end with a ring-like portion constituting the lower side ofthe sixty-degree triangle. k

Thus, when the smallest socket element de- 1 Claim. (Cl. 81-177) sired to be used is fitted `in a triangular recess. the locking member is rotated until the bearing ring contacts one side of the hexagonal socketengaging element, clamping the same rmly against the opposite sides of the triangle and, thus, giving a rigid bearing on three sides of the hexagonal contour of the socket element fitted therein and simultaneously locking the same in rrn, rigid position.

Further features, advantages, and novel combinations will be hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed, wherein I have shown for illustrative purposes the invention as applied to hexagonal socketand wrench constructions.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of my present invention: v

Fig..1 is a` perspective view of my adjustable socket wrench handle with the cap removed from the open end and showing a plurality of hexagonal socket wrench elements contained therein;

Fig. 2 is a side view showing the wrench and a small socket-engaging element locked in position; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale showing a hexagonal socket-engaging element locked in position, being a view at right angles to that of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a hollow handle member is indicated at I and is, preferably, provided with a knurled surface as a nish and gripping means, which barrel at the open end has a reduced portion, as indicated at 2, formed with threads 3 thereon to receive the internally threaded part of a cap 5 adapted to close the open end of a barrel I and to enclose therein a plurality of hex socket elements as indicated at 6, 1, 8, 9, II), and II of varying sizes. At the opposite ends of the handle or barrel I, I also reduce the outer diameter, as indicated at I4, and form threads I5 thereon to it the interior threads of a tubular locking member 20.

The threads I5 extend only a short distance along the reduced part I4 to permit a lengthwise adjustment of the locking member 20 to permit the range desired for engaging and locking the socket-engaging elements of dilerent sizes in the triangular recess near the opposite end of the reduced portion I 4. The locking member 20 is provided with a ring-like portion 2I at its outer end, which is to provide a bearing contact against the surface of the wrench-engaging element to be fitted in the recess near the outer end of the reduced barrel portion III.

This recess is formed with a triangular opening having a sixty-degree apex, as indicated at 25, and with the walls 26 and 21 of the recess extending from said apex downwardly a substantial distance and merging into longitudinal Walls 28 and 29, thus providing an enlarged opening sufficient to receive the largest hexagonal socket-engaging element to be used withl the Wrench when the locking element is threaded downwardly to the limit of its movement in contact with the handle portion I.

Upon selecting a desired hex element` from those contained within the handle, the operatacting face of the ring portion 2l of the locking element.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, I have illustrated the wrench with an element 8 locked in position, the ring and the sixty-degree angular walls 26 and 21 constituting a chuck to hold the same rrnly in position, with a fairly broad leverage exerted by the diametrically opposite walls of the ring 2| and the cooperating faces 26 and 21 of the triangular part of the opening.

As thus positioned, the wrench is readily manipulated and rotated in either direction to tighten or loosen a bolt, set screw, or the like having a corresponding socket in the head, as Will be readily understood.

It will thus be seen that I have devised va novel, efcient, and compact hexwrench device which contains the set of socket-engaging elements ready for selective use and not in danger of being lost or mislaid, together with a quickly adjustable chuck element at the oppositeend, adapted to hold all the various sizes of the hexagonal element contained within the handle portion, and

each element adapted to b e clamped firmly in position with a, simultaneous holding action of the threaded locking member.

In adapting and utilizing the chuck for three, five-, or other sided wrench and socket use, I

, 4 may, of course, vary the angle of the walls of the chuck relatively with each other to more closely t the particular angular wrench element desired to be used therein, although the 60 angle formation is capable of use with considerable range of variations, suchother angular formations being substantially equivalent to the hexagonal form as herein described'and claimed,

, I claim:

As a new article of manufacture. and adjustable hex wrench of the kind described, comprising ahandle with a hollow portion opening at one end, a cap closing said end, the opposite end being provided with a wrench-receiving aperture extending transversely therethrough, said wrench-receiving aperture being formed by two planar sidewalls meeting at a sixty-degree angle and forming an apex directed toward said opposite end, an intermediate portion of said handle adjacent said aperture being provided with screw threads, a sleeve n'ut operable on said threaded portion and having' one end overlapping said opening so as to provide a transverse Wall adjustable with respect to said apex, said two planar sidewalls and said transverse wall forming a triangular shaped opening in which any one of different size hexagonal wrenches can be clamped, upon rotation of said sleevev nut in a Vdirection to reduce the size of said triangular opening.

' RALPH G. AREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 451,293 Naylor Apr. 28, 1891 592,199 Fletcher Oct. 19, 1897 197,804 Gibson Aug. 22, 1905 1,293,073 Fowler Feb. 4, 1919 2,404,613 Brooks Oct. 22, 1946 2,448,168 Banister Aug. 31, 1948 

